There is a version of Tuscany that most travelers never see, and it has nothing to do with missing the famous sights. It has to do with pace. The travelers who come back from Tuscany feeling like they need a vacation from their vacation are the ones who tried to see everything. The travelers who … Read more
On every trip to Tuscany, there’s a moment when the region stops being a series of photographs and becomes something you actually feel. It usually happens somewhere unexpected, not at the Duomo, not at the Uffizi, not on the Ponte Vecchio. It happens when you are driving down a road lined with cypress trees and … Read more
Most people who visit Tuscany go to the same places. Florence, Siena, Pisa, maybe a quick stop in San Gimignano if they have time. They take the same photos, eat at the same restaurants, and leave with the same impressions. And that is exactly what my wife and I did on our first trip to … Read more
A medieval city is simply an urban center built in the Middle Ages (usually from the 5th to the 15th century). Medieval cities feature defensive walls, narrow winding streets, and a market square (a piazza in Italy). Italy is home to more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other nation, and a remarkable number of … Read more
Sometimes traveling is strange. You could be sitting in a piazza somewhere in Italy, watching the evening unfold, and it hits you: I should have come here years ago. Not because the place is disappearing. Not because it will be gone tomorrow. But because it is changing in ways that are quiet and irreversible, and … Read more
Most Italy travel advice is about discovery. Find the hidden gem, get off the beaten path, see something no one else has seen. It is good advice, but it misses something important. Some places are worth returning to, not because you missed something the first time, but because you loved them enough to want more. … Read more
Everyone knows Florence, Rome, and Venice. They are spectacular, and they deserve their reputations. But Italy has thousands of towns, and most of them never make it onto the postcards. The ones that do make it are often overcrowded, overpriced, and overrun with souvenir shops selling the same plastic trinkets. The towns on this list … Read more
Portofino is this tiny little fishing village on Italy’s Ligurian coast. It’s ridiculously pretty—colorful houses, blue water, fancy boats bobbing around. You can walk the whole place in like ten minutes, but honestly, that’s all you need. It’s just one of those places where you sit, eat some great seafood, and enjoy the view. What … Read more
Capri is one of those places that just hits different. Sure, it’s gorgeous—everyone knows that. But it’s not just about the photos. There’s something about the way the light hits the cliffs, or how the sea looks so blue it almost doesn’t seem real. People have been coming here for thousands of years—emperors, writers, rich … Read more
For some, it represents everything wrong with modern tourism—crowded, expensive, and reduced to a single photo opportunity where thousands of people daily strike the same pose, pretending to hold up a building that has been tilting for centuries. For others, Pisa is a charming Tuscan city with a rich history, a vibrant student population, and … Read more